My Natural Birth Story
We made a podcast on this topic! Feel free to listen to our story here!
Everyone wants to take home a healthy baby. But does the process matter? I argue that it definitely does. The WAY babies are born effects every single human. It is not a women’s discussion, it is a human discussion. There are some simple proven things we can do during pregnancy AND labor that reduce the pain of mom’s experience, and help baby be as healthy as possible.
If we can have a positive impact on how these babies come into the world, it’s potential positive effects become pretty huge. Imagine every human being born with healthy gut microbiomes, with alertness to feed, connect with mom and develop robust immune systems and psychological connections. What if mom’s learned how to build a support system through pregnancy (and before) so she feels secure and is able to handle the phase when she takes this baby home and she has a whole new identity to take on. What if her recovery was much easier so that she could mentally have the energy to raise a human intentionally?
Why did I choose a natural childbirth?
We were very lucky to have no tearing, no swelling, and an easy recovery. You know you did something amazing when you shock all the staff. My baby’s APGAR scores were nearly perfect. But I did a lot of research to learn the simplest protocol through pregnancy and labor to make that happen.THrough all of it, my goal was to allow the natural process to shine.
Birth stories and outcomes need to be talked about, especially to learn to prep for the calmest out for your baby. The truth is: Preparing for, and declining, some very popular hospital procedures can save mom from a lot of pain. But there is a different kind of mental/physical prep involved. We need to re-learn what creates better outcomes for mom and baby.
We think: is she crazy? does she love pain to go unmedicated? But my pain was over as soon as I saw my baby. Most modern births have much MORE pain in the form of recovery.
How does it work?
Pain is a trigger to react, and mom feeling sensations helps move her baby out more efficiently! She needs to be able to move, and a typical modern birth means being hooked up to 8+ iv’s/sensors, staying in one position, and inc chances of tearing.
Mom has endorphins (natural pain killers) that get BLOCKED with pitocin (very common fake hormone in hospitals). Pitocin is meant to speed up contractions, but makes them more intense AND more painful. This makes her reach for meds and epidurals that have their own side effects, and SLOW down labor. Also inc chance of c-section.
Biologically, the uterus is the only muscle that can open AND close at the same time, to push baby out or hold baby in. When stressed during labor, it tries to do both, and THAT hurts. Our main job is to actively stay calm to prevent pain and complication.
Sometimes interventions are needed, but that should only be 10% of the time. And they are always there if mom is not coping well.
Navigating a natural birth in a hospital was difficult, mainly bc of outdated protocol. The science is there, but policies have not been triggered to react. SO LETS TALK. We should know going natural is an amazing, scientific AND biological, EMPOWERING option.
Every human has to be birthed. The process matters, and we should talk about the data to allow for easiest births for moms and babies. ✨
